AMERICA/MEXICO - Message from the Bishops: “Not all is lost. God has been and will continue to be the Lord of our history and we should seek to once again give Him the importance that He deserves.”

Mexico City (Agenzia Fides) - At the close of their 85th Plenary Assembly, which took place March 31 - April 4, the Mexican Bishops published a Message with the primary objective of transmitting hope to the People of God.
The Bishops begin their letter with an analysis of their own role as pastors that has brought them to “a personal and pastoral conversion, to seek a reexamination of the pastoral structures and methods, centering ourselves, for now, on the Sacraments of Christian Initiation.”
The Bishops also reflect on the people and the situation in the country, describing “the impressive amount of suffering and need among our people, suffering and need that place upon us, as bishops and priests, the responsibility of offering a more authentic and credible testimony to the God of love, life, and peace.” The Bishops consider it their primary mission “to offer a rigorous evangelizing mission for our Homeland.” They also express their hope that the Mexican people may have an experience of the living Christ, “who enables us to transform our experiences of suffering into experiences of love and salvation.” Expressing their concern for the widespread drug-trafficking, they call it, an “undeniable instrument of the culture of death,” making references as well to the attacks on life and the family, the nucleus of humanity.
However, the Bishops say, “not all is lost,” because “as men of faith, as a redeemed community of believers, and with the Risen Lord, we are like a tree with strong roots that is able to resist even the strongest of winds.” There is hope, therefore, as “God has been and will continue to be the Lord of our history and we should seek to once again give Him the importance that He deserves in our hearts, our families, and our communities.”
“We are willing to continue offering, in our diocesan communities and parishes, in addition to the Word and the Eucharist and counting on your support, pastoral activities capable of transforming our people and our society,” the Bishops concluded. (RG) (Agenzia Fides 7/4/2008 righe 26, parole 336)